EU paper shows options on warming Europe

BRUSSELS, Belgium – Water shortages in the Mediterranean, flash floods along the Rhine and summers so hot that nuclear power stations can’t cool down. This is what Europe can expect as its climate warms over the next decades, a European Union paper warned Friday, as it laid out options for what governments can do now to prepare for the effects of climate change.

“Our aim is to raise awareness across Europe of the urgent need to adapt to climate change and to spark a broad public debate about what our priorities for adaptation should be,” EU Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas said.


The paper says that taking early action would save on future costs. Without flood defenses to cope with rising sea levels, damages would be four times higher, it estimates.

“For impacts where we have enough confidence in the forecasts, adaptation must therefore start now,” it said.

AP